In accordance with historical practices, most human burials conventionally take place in the earth. Certain religious faiths have burial customs which require earth burial in a manner which encourages rapid natural disintegration of a person's body. In the United States and many other countries, the body is typically placed in a casket for containment and transportation to the place of burial. However, burial in a conventional box-like casket insulates the body from the earth and prevents the body of the deceased person from being in intimate contact with the earth, and thereby delays disintegration of the body. Burial in a conventional casket is also not in full compliance with burial customs which call for intimate contact of a body with the earth.
Certain caskets contain a number of small holes drilled in the bottom of the casket. These holes assist in accelerating disintegration of the body, but the body is nevertheless still separated from the earth and not substantially in contact with the earth. Consequently, the burial is not in full compliance with religious customs which call for such intimate contact with the earth. In addition, disintegration of the body in the casket is slower than if the body were buried directly in the earth.
Accordingly, there is a need for burial caskets which place the body of the deceased person in closer contact with the earth to promote natural disintegration of the body and in accordance with religious burial customs.